{"id":1756,"date":"2018-06-27T11:00:59","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T11:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=1756"},"modified":"2018-06-27T11:04:29","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T11:04:29","slug":"sermon-24th-june-2018-morning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-24th-june-2018-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 24th June 2018 – morning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n

St John the Baptist – morning<\/h1>\n
\n

Sunday 24th June 2018<\/h3>\n

Proper 7 – St John the Baptist – morning
\n
\nIsa 40.1-11 \u2013 A voice in the wilderness
\nLuke 1.57-66 \u2013 Birth of the Baptist<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n

\n

\"MaureenWho remembers the soundtrack of West Side Story?<\/p>\n

Could be! Who knows? There\u2019s something due any day; I will know right away
\nSoon as it shows….
\nIt may come canonballing down through the sky
\nGleam in its eye
\nBright as a rose!
\nWho knows?<\/em><\/p>\n

The story of John the Baptist\u2019s birth is a bit like that. Full of anticipation. Not the main story of course \u2013 that is reserved for his cousin Jesus, but certainly a very good warm-up act! And for today at least, it is the warm-up act that steals the show!<\/p>\n

Now the song, \u201cSomething\u2019s coming\u201d from which I quoted earlier, is sung by the hero of the story \u2013 Tony \u2013 in anticipation that something momentous is about to happen in his life. For him it is the meeting with Maria that will be both the high point of his existence \u2013 but will also inevitably lead to his death and unbearable loss.<\/p>\n

There is something similarly both heroic and tragic in the tale of John the Baptist.<\/p>\n

And it begins with his birth \u2013 or more correctly with his conception. To a couple \u2013 very respectable \u2013 but thought to be beyond the normal years of childbearing. To a mother who had reconciled herself to a lifetime of being pitied and scorned because she had failed to fulfil what was commonly thought of as being the only thing of worth a woman could achieve in her community and time \u2013 that of bearing and raising a child.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have a lot of information about Elizabeth and Zechariah prior to the conception of their miracle baby. But we do know that Zechariah was from a long line of priests and that he went each year to the Temple in Jerusalem to serve his duty there. And the fact that he and Elizabeth are still together \u2013 that she has not been cast off and divorced for failing in her duty as a wife, suggests that he was an honourable man and that he had real affection for his wife and she for him.<\/p>\n

But they had given up all thought of having a family of their own. Elizabeth was thought to be barren \u2013 the greatest shame a woman could know and I am sure the cause of much heartache and fervent prayers over the years.<\/p>\n

But then the impossible \u2013 or so they both thought \u2013 happens. Zechariah receives a vision in which he is promised a son \u2013 one who will be a great prophet and so must be brought up according to strict religious principles. He must not drink alcohol. He is to be filled with the spirit of Elijah (one of the greatest of the OT prophets). He will be entrusted with a very important message for the whole nation of Israel. He is to prepare them for the coming among them of God himself and he is to be called John.<\/p>\n

It is all a bit much for Zechariah to take in and he laughs in disbelief \u2013 an unwise thing to do when God appears to make you a promise! So the expectant father is punished with muteness until his son is born and the day of his naming ceremony appears. Only then is his tongue loosened so that he can confirm what Elizabeth has already said \u2013 the boy\u2019s name is to be John \u2013 not a name in the family, which surprises the onlookers, but instead a name signifying \u201cGod has shown favour\u201d. The name turned out to be particularly fitting.<\/p>\n

John will grow up to fulfil both his name and the task to which he has been appointed. That\u2019s the heroic bit! He will indeed encourage the people to consider how their lives fall short of God\u2019s intention for us. He will draw many to repent and to be baptised as a sign of that repentance. He will live the life of a prophet \u2013 not an easy one by anyone\u2019s view. Not for him the comforts of home and family. He will wear the less than comfortable garb, typical of a prophet and make his home in the wilderness, away from polite society. And eventually he will see his own cousin, Jesus, coming to him for baptism. Although he is at first reluctant to perform this ritual, Jesus will persuade him that it is necessary and John will then see his own part in the story of God\u2019s salvation for the world begin to decline. His disciples will drift away to follow Jesus. He will be left with the uncomfortable task of speaking truth to power \u2013 condemning King Herod for having married his own brother\u2019s wife \u2013 and as a result he will lose his head and his life without knowing that in Jesus, God\u2019s purposes for the world are fully worked out. That\u2019s the tragic bit!
\nCould it be? Yes it could
\nSomething\u2019s coming, something good
\nIf I can wait!
\nSomething\u2019s coming, I don\u2019t know what it is
\nBut it is, gonna be great!<\/em><\/p>\n

Patience they say, is a virtue. One that I am not always very good at practising. I would love things to change quickly \u2013 in the blink of an eye \u2013 at the snap of my fingers….. but life\u2019s not like that. Sometimes we have to be prepared to wait and to trust in God bringing about his purposes in his own time. Just as Elizabeth and Zechariah did; just as the life of their son, John, shows us. Sometimes we will not see the final triumph \u2013 but if we listen for God\u2019s word and obey his purposes for us, we can know that we have played our own part in the greater whole. The greater story. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermons index St John the Baptist – morning Sunday 24th June 2018 Proper 7 – St John the Baptist – morning Isa 40.1-11 \u2013 A voice in the wilderness Luke 1.57-66 \u2013 Birth of the Baptist Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs Who remembers the soundtrack of West Side Story? Could be! Who knows? There\u2019s something due … <\/p>\n

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